Your Friendly Neighborhood Music Critic

Vic Mensa – There’s Alot Going On

Oh no, this is not “Down On My Luck.” Vic Mensa, the former Kids These Days member turned trap artist & Roc Nation’s youngest poster child has taken a sharp left-turn since “Cocoa Butter Kisses” and his Save Money days. While Vic works hard on his upcoming debut studio record still untitled, There’s Alot Going On (his spelling, not mine), is his seven-track EP, serving as a prelude to the eventual 2016 big release. After “Wolves” and “Down On My Luck,” I kind of hoped we’d get a cool R&B/rap artist out of Vic Mensa, but it seems he’s taken a turn.

It’s weird to hear Vic go back and forth between “16 Shots” and “Shades of Blue,” like an angry dog chasing his own tail and then having to take a break from exhaustion. Like the album title suggests, there’s alot going on on this record, from issues such as the water crisis in Flint Michigan, the shooting of Laquan McDonald, depression, and how he believes the record encourages fans to vote.

Kind of a whirlwind of a record where it seems to relentlessly spin as cows and houses, a.k.a. Vic’s ideas, are violently swung around it, There’s Alot Going On, sounds like someone dealing with everything possible as the songs progress on. The project opens up with “Dynasty”, a paragraph form-like essay of a verse, and then followed up with “16 Shots,” the most racially and politically charged track, setting There’s Alot Going On with a dark and word-heavy tone. Angrily in your face about it all, Vic Mensa fires through the dialogue like shards of glass, making it really aurally hard to listen to let alone sit through.

Vic’s delivery is raw, commanding your attention, but it’s almost like the Scared Straight Program, a very different way of delivering messages than say someone like Kendrick or Chance might go about. There’s Alot Going On is a violent flash of what Vic’s been up to since “Down On My Luck,” and some dumb choruses like on “Danger” or “New Bae” aside, Vic’s bite flow shows that if this is just a prequel, there’s possibly a lot of potential towards a future large release later this year.